XBox Live price increase coming November 1st

Fans of Xbox Live are soon going to have to dig a little deeper into their pockets to continue playing online. Starting November 1st, Xbox live is getting its first price increase in its eight year history.

In the United States, one-year Gold memberships are bumping up ten dollars to $59.99 USD. Monthly subscriptions will rise from $7.99 to $9.99, and three month subs will rise from $19.99 to $24.99. Microsoft is running a special deal right now for U.S. customers that will allow them to lock in a year for $39.99 to give them a little buffer before having to pay the higher price.

Other parts of the world will see prices raise as well: Monthly prices are raising in Canada, the U.K., and Mexico. Industry analyst Jesse Divnich said in a statement that "When originally launched in 2002, a Gold subscription cost the same as an AAA video game, $49.99. When taking into account for inflation ($50 in 2002 is roughly $60 in 2010) and the additional services available to Gold subscribers in 2010, such as ESPN, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Last.fm and Video Kinect, a $10 price increase still represents an incredible value to consumers."

An incredible value? Really? I guess I'll continue playing online and accessing most of these services on my PS3 for free. Now that's a value.